Early Days

"The history of Scouting in Slovenia goes back to
the times when Slovenia was a part of the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1922, a meeting
of an important political and sporting movement of Yugoslavia and some other European
Countries, called "Sokoli" (Falcons), took place in Ljubljana. Scouting was
established in Slovenia in 1922. It was officially dissolved on June 10th, 1941 because of
World War II." Excerpted
from: History of the
Association. From the ZSKSS Home Page

Welcome Slovenia!

"The World Organization of the Scout Movement
welcomed Slovenia into its membership during September. Zveza Tabornikov Slovenije (ZTS)
has been recognized as the national member organization of Slovenia. The enthusiastic
young girls and boys of the Slovenian contingent at the European Jamboree impressed
everyone with the quality of their Scouting skills. This reflects very well on the
training being provided to all members of the Movement in Slovenia. We welcome and look
forward to Slovenia's very active participation in all aspects of the life of the
Region."From Eurofax no. 25,
October 1994. Eurofax is the monthly newsletter of the European Region.

"Zveza tabornikov Slovenije is a recognised member
of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement since September 1994. As the recognised
national Scout organisation in Slovenia ZTS guarantees the rights of WOSM membership which
this bestows upon an individual to the members of another Slovenian Scout organisation,
Zdruzenje slovenskih katoliskih skavtinj in skavtov (ZSKSS, founded in 1990). This enables
individual members of ZSKSS to participate in international Scout events and
meetings." From the Home Page of the Scout Association of Slovenia

The Story of a Scout Unit in Slovenia
by Klemen Kenda

Klemen Kenda writes:

"There was no Scout Group in our town, Cerkno, for
about 18 years. There was an attempt to start a Scout group about 10 years ago. The unit
worked for 2 years and then quit.

About a year ago the idea of founding a unit appeared
again. Nine students (6 boys and 3 girls) started to work under leadership of a unit
"Kranjski jeglic" from Spodnja Idrija about 17 km from Cerkno. In one year, we
became the largest organization for young people in our town (81 members). And we still
have to consider, that as there are only 9 guides, we can't work with all young people who
would like to join the organization. Only children aged from 7 to 11 years are included.
We planned to expand every year. We would keep all the old members and picked a new group
consisted of children aged 7.

We got the most support from the primary school in
Cerkno. They gave us the room for our meetings. We got less support from local
authorities. That is why we still have very big financial problems.

There is one more problem we have - the people. Of course
many support us, but many more do not know what the Scout movement really is. They are not
aware of what their children could learn in Scouting, the influence we could have on their
psychological progress. However, we plan to publicize Scouting in our local newspaper, on
local radio, etc. And we hope to have some success.

We have two different scouts organizations in Slovenia -
ZTS (Scout Association of Slovenia) and ZSKSS (Slovenian Catholic Scout Association. Our
unit is part of a ZTS (non-denominational). We hear that unit of ZSKSS (catholic) will be
founded in our little town (a village, population: 2000). This will put us under a lot of
pressure. Why? Well, we are a new unit, and we have yet to get all the equippment we need.
Our financial source is the local authorities and they will not give us money unless we
have more members. ZSKSS does not seem to have financial problems.

So, there is a possibility that all our work was for
nothing. However we have the will, courage and enthusiasm. And, as long we won't lose it,
our organization will succeed.

ZTS is divided into units called "rod". Our
Group is "Rod Kranjskega jeglica from Spodnja Idrija". These units are
standalone. Our unit in Cerkno is not. It is a part of "rod Kranjskega jeglica".
It is called "ceta" or "^ceta" that you would pronounce
"cheta". And we work in another town.]

This is the badge of our Group,"Rod Kranjskega
jeglica" from Spodnja Idrija. Kranjski jeglic is a sort of a wild flower, similar to
those on which we can play if we blow in. They're called trumpets in Slovenija.

This is the badge of our Unit, "Ceta aragonitnih
jezkov"in Cerkno. Aragonitni jezek: is a mineral which is found in caves under the
ground in areas where there are sediments.. These area are called "kras" in
Slovenia, I can't remember the English expression right now. You can see the shape in our
badge.

In answer to the question, "What do you like most
about Scouting?" Klemen writes:
"I became the leader of Ceta Aragonitnih jezkov Cerkno last week. Before that, I was
leader of a group called "Medvedki in cebelice" (Bears and Bees) which includes
children from 7 to 10 years. The first thing I like about Scouting is its attitude towards
nature and the environment, which nowadays is under lot of pressure. The next thing I like
is Scouting's attitude towards other people and the relations between people. It is all so
friendly and spontaneous. And what is most important -- I would like to show all these
beautiful things to the children. I would like to open their eyes, because... they are
mostly "children of television" and by themselves and otherwise will not be able
to experience all these things. I find Scouting as a philosopy or should I say a way of
life. I think through Scouting, everyone can get important experiences that will lead them
later through the obstacles of life."

Klemen continues: "By the way, in Slovenia, our
Scout motto is "Bodi Pripravljen!" or "Be Prepared." And we usually
add "Z NARAVO K BOLJSEMU CLOVEKU" or "With Nature to a Better Life!"
on the end."

AGESCI, the Italian Catholic Scout and Guide Association
and Scout Associations in Poland, Spain, Austria, and Ireland have been actively involved
in the growth of Scouting in Slovenia.

A Guide
to Virtual Slovenia is hosted by the J. Stefan Institute (named after a distinguished
physicist of the 19th century Jozef Stefan), the leading Slovenian scientific research
organization located in the capital at Ljubljana. These pages are informative and
incorporate some very creative web and graphic design.

The Virtual Guide to Slovenia contains
an excellent Interactive Map of Slovenia with
links to important and useful information about the country.

With the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and Russia,
Scouting has returned to many lands where it had previously taken root. These pages
chronicle the return of former members and the addition of new members to the World
Organization of the Scout Movement. They also report the growth of Scouting in the other
nations of Eastern Europe.

Scouting organizations around the world are assisting in the growth of Scouting in both
Eastern Europe and Russia. They have been identified by country where information is
available.

Currently, the "Chronicle" reports on the progress of Scouting in 19 countries
in Central and Eastern Europe. The Chronicle Home Page provides links to each.